A method of adaptively predicting, during operation of a pump, a mass of fuel pumped by the pump during a pumping event to a fuel accumulator (“Q.sub.pump”) to control operation of the pump is provided, comprising: generating an adaptive model of operation of the pump, including estimating a start of pumping (“SOP”) position of a plunger of the pump, estimating Q.sub.pump, determining a converged value of the estimated SOP position, and determining a converged value of the estimated Q.sub.pump; using the adaptive model to predict Q.sub.pump by inputting to the model the converged value of the estimated SOP position, a measured pressure of fuel in the fuel accumulator and a measured temperature of fuel in the fuel accumulator; and controlling operation of the pump in response to the predicted Q.sub.pump.

An internal combustion engine with a plurality of cylinders is a drive device in which the drive torque available can be reduced. The ignition timing which is set at the internal combustion engine is adjusted in the retarded direction starting from an initial ignition timing until the ignition timing corresponds to a threshold ignition timing. To reduce the drive torque further, at least one cylinder, among the plurality of cylinders, is deactivated by suspending fuel injection into the cylinder, and the remaining cylinder(s) continue to be operated with fuel injection using the ignition timing. The remaining cylinders of the internal combustion engine which continue to be operated are supplied with a quantity of fuel which is larger in comparison with an initial quantity of fuel present before the cylinder deactivation, to set a substoichiometric fuel/oxygen ratio.

Methods and systems are provided for an engine for adjusting cylinder parameter settings to optimize engine output during a transient mode. In one example, a method may include adjusting cylinder parameter settings, including a cam timing setting, a spark timing setting, and a fuel injection timing setting based on a chamber temperature in response to a rate of fuel injection acceleration being greater than a positive threshold, thus indicating the engine is in the transient mode.

A system is provided for controlling engine fueling and includes an internal combustion engine, a fuel source, means for delivering fuel from the fuel source to the engine, and a controller configured to control the fuel delivering means according to a first operational mode so that, upon attaining a predetermined operational state of the engine, an amount of fuel delivered to the engine per unit time is kept constant. The system will typically but not necessarily be provided in a vehicle such as a truck or a passenger automobile. A method for controlling engine fueling is also provided.

An engine management system and method may include a control system and method for controlling an internal combustion engine. The internal combustion engine may be a direct-injection engine using a Sonex Controlled Auto-Ignition (“SCAI”) combustion path. The control system and method may utilize fuel injection pressure, timing of start and end of injection, management of turbo airflow, fuel supplied, and other factors to provide reduced emissions and improved performance.

A method is provided for controlling an engine. In one example, the method may include injecting fuel to the engine; and during an operating condition, limiting injected fuel based on engine airflow to a smoke-fuel limit, the smoke-fuel limit transiently adjusted from a first smoke-fuel limit to a second smoke-fuel limit based on a duration operating at the smoke-fuel limit. In one example, the method may include during another operating condition, fuel injection not limited by the smoke-fuel limit. In some examples, the duration may be a time duration. In some examples, the duration may be a crank angle duration. In some examples, limiting the injected fuel is based on an estimated engine airflow and estimated fuel injection amount to the engine.

An engine includes a first injection valve, which is one of port and direct injection valves, and a second injection valve, which is the other. When operating only the first injection valve based on a base injection amount, which has been corrected using a feedback operation amount and a first learning value, an air-fuel ratio control apparatus updates the first learning value and determines that the first learning value has converged on condition that a correction ratio of the base injection amount is not more than a predetermined ratio. When the first and second injection valves are being operated, the apparatus updates a second learning value for the second injection valve on condition that the first learning value has converged and the ratio of the injection amount of the second injection valve is not less than a specified value.

An air-fuel ratio controller of an internal combustion engine includes an open-loop processor setting a base injection amount, a feedback processor calculating a feedback operation amount, an increase processor performing an increase correction on the base injection amount when a temperature of the internal combustion engine is a specified temperature or lower, an operation processor operating a fuel injection valve based on the corrected base injection amount and that is corrected using the feedback operation amount and a learning value, and an update processor updating the learning value. If the increase processor performs the increase correction, the update processor updates the learning value to increase an increase correction rate of the base injection amount when a temperature of the cylinder wall surface is high.

The disclosure provides a system and method for determining an amount of fuel injected or delivered by a single fuel injector in an internal combustion engine by generating one fuel injection event after the engine has stopped operating. The fuel delivered is statistically analyzed in comparison with a commanded fuel delivery amounts to determine the suitability of fuel injector on-time calibration for the analyzed fuel injector. If the fuel delivered deviates from the commanded amount of fuel delivery by a predetermined value, the fuel injector on-time calibration for the analyzed fuel injector is changed.

A method for operating an internal combustion engine, the method including the steps of: (a) actuating an injector to introduce a pre-injection amount of a fuel into a combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine; (b) determining, for an operating cycle of the combustion chamber in which the injector was actuated in the step (a), a pressure gradient characteristic value which is characteristic of a combustion chamber pressure gradient in the combustion chamber; (c) repeating the steps (a) and (b) a plurality of times; (d) determining a skew of a distribution of a plurality of pressure gradient characteristic values determined in the step (c); and (e) changing or maintaining an actuation of the injector depending on the skew determined in the step (d).